Rise of The Demon General

It was finally the day of the third match, which would be the deathmatch between Amon and Wei Lhosa.

The third match for everyone was no longer held in the outer arenas, but instead in the largest arena at the center. The number of participants had declined after two days of the elimination match to one hundred youths. There would be fifty matches today to decide the fifty finalists.

Due to the bout between Amon and Wei Lhosa being special, theirs were put as the last match. The two waited in opposite waiting areas as they watched the matches.

In being able to reach these semi-final rounds, none of the participants were weak. However, the deciding factors of their winning were more on the level of their cultivation and the strength of their arts. Very few actually gave Amon the reason to pay attention.

Some, however, had genuine talent and seemed to have a little real-life and death battle experience. Xin Wuming who followed Amon during the preliminary round was one of them. He had managed to beat his opponent despite his opponent's arts being a level better.

Another one worth noting was Lei San. Everyone had expected him to come out on top, so there was no surprise there. However, he had done it by only using a single martial art. He didn't use any arcane art or other martial arts.

Amon was slightly impressed when he saw this prodigy fight. Lei San was able to read his opponent's movement and dodge all the attacks coming his way with ease. He then used his martial art to counterattack. A simple palm strike. The strike seemed soft but it hit a fatal spot and his opponent was having difficulty moving afterward. A second palm caused his opponent to unable to stand anymore.

From the display, Amon discerned that the palm strike was a martial art that used the aether to intrude into the opponent's inner organ and cause harm inside. The strike might look as soft as a touch, but the damage it caused is not something to be looked down on.

There was another notable one, a girl whose arts were nothing to speak of. But her ferocity and determination carried her to victory against an opponent who was clearly better in terms of cultivation and arts. Her name was Yang Li. She didn't seem to be affiliated with any clans. Everyone was surprised a true independent participant had managed to make it into the final. Such an incident rarely happened.

Out of the Lin clan, Lin Fen and Lin Cang managed to win and become finalists. However, in Amon's opinion, they were simply lucky. Their opponents happened to be those of no particular quality and could be said to be the worse amongst the semi-finalists.

Another of the Lei clan's youth, Lei Muyin, also won. She was not as good as Lei San but in Amon's opinion, she was better than the Lin candidates, Lin Fen and Lin Cang.

Wei clan also produced one winner, Wei Lun. He seemed to win with difficulty but Amon felt something was off about him. The guy was pretending to be weak. Amon could see from his movement that he could have won easily if he wanted. Why this guy concealed his ability, Amon didn't know and didn't care.

After forty-nine matches were completed, forty-nine finalists were made clear. It was finally the last match.

The referee that had overseen the previous matches left the arena. Another person floated down to the main arena to take his place. It was the referee that had overseen the South Arena, Pai Kuan. Everyone knew then that the last match was something special.

After his feet landed on the arena, his voice boomed out, "First, I would like to congratulate the forty-nine youths that had won the rights to join the final round! You have fought well and won the honor for your families and clans. The details of the last round will be explained to you once we have our fiftieth finalist. As for this last match, it will be different from the previous one. Why? Because in this last match, the loser will die."

The crowd started to murmur. There had been matches arranged by White Cloud that were fought to the death, but never during a White Cloud tournament. Because the participants of the White Cloud Tournament were always youths who rarely understood the concept of a fight to the death. That's why the current announcement took the spectators by surprise.

*

Around the arena, above where the spectators were seated, were elevated podiums. These were the viewing platforms provided for the well-known clans. Each podium housed the most prominent clans in White Cloud City.

"Is that the bastard that had crippled my son?!" One of the men inside the podium reserved for the Wei clan uttered.

"Uncle Lusiong, don't worry. Brother Lhosa will take revenge for Lumao," a teenage girl with a sweet voice said.

The angry man was Wei Lusiong, the father of Wei Lumao whose legs had been cut by Amon during the preliminary round.

"That's right. We will have the front seat row when my Lhosa takes care of that mongrel," Wei Sui, who was sitting close to the edge, said. "I've asked him to make the boy's death as miserable as possible. I've specifically asked him to have the boy's head crushed, so he will die without a head or face that anyone can recognize. We will have this exciting spectacle soon."

"Oh… I've never seen someone's head getting crushed. I look forward to it!" The girl with the sweet voice said.

"Watch your manner, Yunning. It is unbecoming of a little girl," Wei Linkun, who was also there, chided the girl.

"I'm just excited, brother. All you let me do is just beat the servant boys. I've long wanted to see brain matter being smashed out, guts being pulled out. I can't wait when I am allowed to do it myself."

Wei Linkun shook his head. This sister of his was rather unusual. Their age gap was very large, but he always dotted her. However, her hobby seemed to be developing in a direction that is unlike any other girl. Her talents in cultivation and arts are top-notch though. But she was already sixteen, otherwise, she would have been amongst the ones representing the Wei clan fighting down there.

"But we are rather lucky, we have two candidates who managed to reach the final. That Wei Lun boy does not disappoint. Why have I never heard of him before?"

"He is good but does not stand out," Wei Sui informed. "I'm also rather surprised that he becomes a finalist. This is good, that means Wei Lhosa will have someone he can count on during the finals."

"The Lin people also have two youths who managed to reach the final," Wei Linkun reminded.

Wei Sui laughed. "Did you not see their fights? They are just lucky. They are no threat to Wei Lhosa."

Wei Linkun nodded. "The one that I think was the better amongst the Lin clan was unexpected this Lin Mo. I hope Wei Lhosa isn't careless and underestimates his opponent."

"You give a too high opinion of this boy," Wei Sui said. "Yes, his last match was indeed surprising, but he is just using a trick to catch his opponent unaware and landed a cheap shot. Wei Lhosa already saw his trick, he won't fall for it."

"Nevertheless, he managed to win through the battle royale. I didn't watch that round. Did any of you do?"

"I don't. Why should we spend time watching that boy's fights?" Wei Sui said with disgust. "I am of course watching the West arena where my Lhosa was at."

"I'm at the North Arena watching Lei San's fights," Wei Yunning said cheerily. "Oh… he is so cool and talented. If only I can get my hands on him and torment him until he begs for death, that will be a dream come true."

Wei Linkun glanced at this sister of his. He admitted that she gave him the creeps once in a while. He then turned to Wei Lusiong. "What about you? Your son is fighting in the arena that Lin Mo brat was at. Did you see his fights?"

"I did, but that boy was just using numbers to bully the others. He sneaked a cheap shot when my boy was not looking."

"See? That is the only way that boy cheats his victory," Wei Sui said. "But now that he meets my Lhosa, his tricks won't work anymore. He will see that no amount of ploy will work when he meets true talent."

"Hm. Then we should prepare for the final. Have Wei Lun and Wei Lhosa come see me once the match ends. I will give them pointers on what to do during the final," Wei Linkun said.

"That won't be long," Wei Sui said with confidence.

*

Down there at the main arena. Pai Kuan had finished explaining the rules. It was basically the same as before, with no weapon nor poison despite this bout being a deathmatch. However, the referee would not stop the fight even when one of them called for surrender. A forcefield had been erected around the arena, so the two couldn't leave the arena even if they wanted to. The match would only end when one of them died.

"Are you two ready?" Pai Kuan asked as he floated above the two combatants.

"Ready," Wei Lhosa said with confidence.

"I have a question," Amon said.

"Hm? What's your question?" Pai Kuan asked.

Wei Lhosa mocked after hearing, "Are you going to make excuses to delay the fight?"

Amon ignored Wei Lhosa and gave his question to Pai Kuan, "which one of those viewing platforms houses the Wei clan?"

Pai Kuan was about to ask why? But decided he didn't care. "That one," he said as he pointed.

"All right, let's get this over with," Amon said.

Pai Kuan nodded, then he uttered, "begin!"